BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
FORT WORTH – If the junior varsity match beforehand was any indication on how the Decatur and Eagle Mountain varsity volleyball teams were going to do, you knew it was going to be a thriller on Tuesday night.
The JV contest went a full three sets with EMHS winning the third 28-26.
Plus with the District 7-4A championship on the line for both teams – in the regular season finale no less – of course the game was going a full five sets.
Trailing 20-15 in the fourth set, Decatur stormed back with a 10-2 finish to force a fifth set and then used a 7-1 run to pull away from the Knights 20-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 15-11 at Eagle Mountain HS. Decatur brings home a district title for the fifth straight year.
The Eagles (25-13, 12-2) will begin next week’s playoffs as a 1-seed in the D1 bracket.
Meanwhile, the Knights wrapped their first ever volleyball regular season 26-18 and 11-3. They will be the 1-seed in the D2 bracket. EMHS opened its doors in August – becoming the fourth high school in Eagle Mountain Saginaw ISD.
Decatur wins the series 3-0 over EMHS.
The Eagles won a tournament game earlier in the season and then the first round of district 3-1.
The two schools had a good battle back and forth in the opening set. The Knights got the first two-point lead at 14-12 off an ace and block by Nebraska committed middle blocker Keoni Williams, who’s a Top 10 player in the country among the 2026 class.
Eagle Mountain then had its biggest lead shortly after at 18-15 leading to a Decatur timeout. Two more points by Williams and then help from Texas A&M commit Brooke Lacewell got the Knights pulling away. EMHS took care of the first set after a violation on the Eagles.
The Knights finished it out with nine of the final 14 points after Decatur pulled within 16-15.
Eagle Mountain was rolling in the second set led by Lacwell who had four kills during a 7-2 start. However the Eagles stormed back and grabbed a 12-11 edge on kills by Gracie Trulson (West Texas A&M commit) and Lara Hornsby (East Texas Baptist commit).
Trulson tacked on back to back kills and it was 18-13 Decatur. The Eagles closed it out on a 21-7 run. Peyton Dickson scored on a over pass and then EM committed a hitting error on set point.
The Knights scored four straight with an ace by Lacewell and EMHS led 8-4 in the third. The Eagles pulled within 9-7 on a block combo by Lilly Lowery and Dickson. A Zoe Hawthorne solo block put Eagle Mountain ahead 18-13 to force a timeout.
Williams sent down an attempt past two Eagles and the Knights took a 2-1 lead.
Eagle Mountain led for most of the fourth set including 9-3 and 16-10. Then it was 20-15 followed by a Decatur timeout from coach Stormi Snider. Decatur came back to the court and scored four in a row to pull within one. After a 22-22 tie, the Eagles scored three straight to force a fifth set. Decatur scored on an over pass and then an ace on set point.
Decatur used that momentum and started the fifth on fire.
The Eagles led 6-2 before the Knights pulled within 7-6. Lowery’s solo block gave Decatur a 4-0 run and 10-6 lead. Kills by Dickson and Hornsby pushed the lead to 12-7. Eagle Mountain didn’t fold just yet with four points in a row to pull within 14-11.
Dickson’s kill wasn’t returned and the Eagles finally ended it. She finished with 25 assists, 12 kills and nine digs. Hornsby had a team-high 20 kills and hit 0.364. Lowery chipped in 12 kills and Trulson added 10. Grace Fortune registered 22 assists and six digs. Aubrie Duncan led the team with 23 digs.
Eagle Mountain is led by former Decatur coach Catherine Foerster. She spent the previous four seasons with the Eagles and led the program to two Class 4A state championships.
Snider came to Decatur this year after going nine seasons with Ponder, turning the Lions into a top Class 3A team.
